Letter to the Editor: Supreme Court decision furthers economic inequalities

Thoughtful readers are well acquainted with the dangerous and accelerating level of economic inequality in our society. With this awareness comes the logical question, “What has brought us to this unfortunate condition?” The old expression "death by a thousand cuts" comes to mind.

A recent United States Supreme Court decision that forecloses the use of class action lawsuits by employees who have been required to sign arbitration agreements as a condition of employment is yet another "cut." Recent press reports suggest as much as half of the American workforce may now be covered by these agreements, which pit single workers against corporate lawyers and employer selected arbitrators, behind closed doors. Pursuing wage violations, discrimination, or other fairness issues under these circumstances, without the strength that comes through allying with other workers near and far, puts a thumb on the scale of justice.

But this decision is just one more injury to workers. Understanding it as part of "a thousand cuts" is important. Consider these other lacerations:

Right to Work laws and the coming Janus decision at the Supreme Court, akin to throwing a hand grenade into union organizing efforts. A collective bargaining system under attack has been called roughly a third of the explanation for the growth in inequality.
The export of jobs through bad trade deals, resulting in a hollowing out of the economies of cities like New Bedford and Fall River.
An increasingly flattened system of taxation, resulting in a relatively greater burden of taxation on the working class.
Outsourcing public jobs with decent benefits to vendors who provide few benefits.
Failing to maintain infrastructure.
Minimum wage laws that have fallen woefully behind the rate of inflation over the years.
The defunding of public higher education and the related student debt crisis, and the emergence of for profit education colleges, siphoning money from government loan programs and leaving students in debt for an ‘education’ that often proves useless.
Anemic worker safety laws that reward employers that expose workers to dangers on the job.
The exploitation of immigrant workers and the resulting downward pressure on wages.

The list goes on, and so does the trend toward more inequality in this country than anywhere else in the industrialized world. It is not accidental. And it is important to connect the dots - or "cuts" - in a way that fully explains the crisis we face.

Kimberly Wilson

Director, UMass Dartmouth Labor Education Center